How to Take Care of a Carnivorous Plant

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How to Take Care of a Carnivorous Plant

Overview

Carnivorous plants are plants that gather their nutrients by trapping and digesting insects. There are different varieties of carnivorous plants, with the methods used to capture prey varying among the different kinds of plants. Most of these plants have similar growing requirements. Provide the proper care and growing environments for your carnivorous plants, and they will continue to grow and thrive.

Step 1

Fill the bottom of the terrarium with several inches of peat moss and saturate the peat moss with distilled water. Add an equal amount of coarse sand and mix this material in well with the peat moss.

Step 2

Plant the carnivorous plants into the prepared terrarium. Depending on the size of the terrarium, you may be able to fit only one plant or more than one. Space the plants approximately 1 foot apart. Cover the roots of the plant with planting medium. Do not cover the terrarium.

Step 3

Water the carnivorous plants with distilled water. Never use plain tap water on carnivorous plants because the minerals in plain tap water will destroy their roots. Keep the soil around the carnivorous plants constantly moist with distilled water. Never allow the soil to dry out.

Step 4

Place the terrarium in a sunny window. Do not allow the terrarium to receive strong afternoon sunlight, however. Bright daily sun in the early part of the day is ideal for carnivorous plants.

Step 5

Place insects on the mouth of the trap of the carnivorous plants. Do not use insects that are larger than one-third of the trap size, however, because this may lead to excessive bacteria growth in a plant. Allow the plant approximately one week to digest one insect and then provide another insect. You will know when the plant is ready for another insect, because the trap will open again.

Tips and Warnings

Never feed a carnivorous plant raw meat or dairy products. This will damage the plant.

Things You'll Need

Carnivorous plants

Terrarium (large enough to house a carnivorous plant with some surrounding space)